


Epiphany

by GizliBiraz



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 04:35:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16298279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GizliBiraz/pseuds/GizliBiraz
Summary: What happens when you realize that despite all evidence to the contrary, the person you least expected is the person who makes you happy? How long could you wait to take it to the next level? Canon through 4x06, takes place immediately thereafter. LEMON





	1. Chapter 1

"I can't do this Elena. Not anymore." Stefan looked away from her, wringing his hands and staring at the motion as if it were not a part of his own body.

"I know," Elena was surprised that the tears threatened, but didn't fall. Somewhere, deep down, she knew this moment had been coming, and any tears shed now would be more lies heaped on top of the ones they'd just acknowledged.

They both sat staring at the street for a moment. After what seemed an eternity, Stefan ended the strained silence with a sigh. He stood up, wiping some invisible dust from the thighs of his jeans, and strode off across the front lawn. Elena didn't try to stop him or discuss things any further. This was the end of their time together, and she knew it. She pulled her sweater tighter around her, and watched as a few more leaves found their way to the waiting grass below, carried on the breeze to their ultimate end.

Damon was standing by the fireplace lamenting his latest effort to be the good guy. Just like he'd told Elena in Denver, he knew at this rate, people were going to start to expect things from him. He didn't like this feeling, but if he was honest with himself, he was glad he'd taken that high and annoying road. In the long run, it would be the best thing for Elena to be able to mend her relationship with Stefan and be happy. Because, after all, that's what he really wanted—her to be happy.

The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized he'd shot himself in the foot. According to his "gentleman's agreement" with Stefan, he'd have to leave town now. Elena was able to snatch, feed, erase on her own, her relationship with Stefan would be back on track now that the lies were out in the open, and he had no more excuses to stick around. He poured his third—no, fourth—bourbon and tilted the glass to Ric's memory before downing it just like the ones before.

As he swallowed, the front door of the boarding house slammed violently, and Stefan slammed him against the far wall, the younger brother's forearm pressing violently into Damon's adam's apple. "If you hurt her, I will find you and I will kill you, brother! You need to know that," Stefan's hot breath seared Damon's face as the unprovoked tirade continued. "I won't interfere, but I will retaliate if she even sheds one tear over you . . . ." Stefan was losing steam, and tears began to find their way out of his eyes. His grip loosened, but Damon's anger was already at its peak.

He shoved Stefan off of him and across to the other side of the room, mirroring the hold he had just been in. His grief and pain rolled off of him in palpable waves, "I don't know what you think is going on, but if you think I would  _ever_ hurt her, you're wrong!  _I'm_  not the one who's been lying to her, who's been making deals with someone who wants to use her or kill her!" Damon had had enough, and he was going to make his point whether his little brother wanted to hear it or not. He ignored the tears on Stefan's face as he continued, "I've been the one to walk behind you and clean up your mess, brother, and I'm done! You won, and just like we agreed, I'm leaving." His grip loosened a little and his anger began to subsume under the pain and loss he was feeling. "I love her, too, Stefan. And I'm not going to keep torturing myself by watching the two of you go back to being happy now that she knows why you lied." He released Stefan and walked back toward the discarded bottle of bourbon. He picked it up, and decided to forego the glass this time. He looked at his brother and paused before taking a swig, "And just for the record, I wouldn't have lied to her in the first place."

"Damon," Stefan had regained some of his composure, "it's over. Elena and I broke up."

Damon was floored, and didn't know how to react. He's left her with everything she needed to forgive Stefan and mend their relationship. How had this happened? What the hell was going on over there? He realized Stefan was waiting on a response, but all he could manage was a distracted "Oh," as he retreated into his own headspace.

Stefan took the bottle from Damon and drained the last remaining drops from its glassy prison. He threw the bottle into the fireplace and let out one gut-wrenching sob as the shards scattered in every direction. When Damon turned to look at him again, Stefan was gone.

Damon was left reeling. What did this mean? What could possibly have happened after he left? His mind was spiraling with the possibilities. Stefan had said he wouldn't interfere. Did that mean that he had a green light to pursue his own relationship with Elena now? Surely not. Confused and still a bundle of raw nerves from the encounter, Damon headed into the cellar for more liquor.

* * *

Elena sighed and stood up from her perch on the front steps. She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there thinking things through. She'd known even before her transition that things just weren't sitting quite right with Stefan, and that night in Denver . . . . How far would things have gone with Damon then if Jeremy hadn't been there? Ultimately, the thing that seemed to make her decision for her came down to smiles. Looking back over the past couple of months, she had smiled more often with Damon, exponentially more. She couldn't deny that he made her happy. Even through all of his brooding and angry outbursts, she felt infinitely safe with him, too. And of course, she couldn't deny the sparks that ran through her every time he looked at her in  _that_  way with those endless blue eyes of his.

She didn't want to jump immediately from Stefan to Damon; she didn't want anyone to think she'd taken Damon as a consolation prize or on the rebound, least of all him. However, he knew better than anyone that things with Stefan had been declining for some time now. She walked inside and found her cell phone. She paused for a moment as her thumb hovered over the call button, but decided it was now or never. She took a deep breath and pushed down.


	2. Chapter 2

Damon's phone rang just as he was reaching for a bottle of Maker's 46, and he glanced at it uninterestedly. When he saw Elena's name on the caller ID, however, he forgot all about the smooth vanilla and caramel undertones waiting for him on the shelf. He ran his thumb along the side of the phone as if he were caressing her cheek, not sure what he'd even say to her. He decided to start with the obvious.

"Hey, you," he was desperately trying to sound nonchalant when he answered.

"Hey," her voice sounded small and a little unsure.

There was a long pause before they both began at the same time.

"Damon, I . . . ."

"Elena, I . . . ." Damon grinned, "You go first."

"I wanted to talk to you," she hesitated, "about this morning. About everything."

"Yeah, we should probably do that," he felt himself doubting his every move, uncomfortable territory for him.

"Can you come over?" she asked.

"I'll be right there," he replied. He almost made a snarky comment about the purple tank top she'd been wearing this morning, but stopped himself. He knew the coming conversation would be more serious than that. He hung up without another word, and made his way back up to the main floor of the boarding house.

He ran into Stefan in the hallway. The younger Salvatore had a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder, and his trajectory clearly indicated the front door. "Where are you going?" Damon asked him.

"We had an agreement," Stefan said. "Whoever she chose, the other would leave town. I'm leaving."

"Wait a minute," Damon began to protest.

"No!" Stefan's anger flashed back for a moment, but he quickly got it in check. "Let's not pretend like this isn't the best day of your life. You won. You got the girl. Just remember who that girl is, and remember that I will love her for the rest of my unholy life, so you had better treat her right, or I will find you."

"I got it," Damon was sad and annoyed all at once. How could Stefan possibly think he was going to hurt her? "And don't worry, little brother. I would die before I'd hurt her."

"Good." Stefan couldn't look at him anymore. He couldn't be here, in this house, or even in Mystic Falls anymore. He had to get out of there. "And goodbye." The front door slammed behind him in a flash, and he was gone. Once again, Damon was left wondering what the hell had just happened. Was that permission? Encouragement? Hope that he could actually have something with this girl he'd pined over for so long? He didn't know, but he knew he had to see her.

* * *

Back at the Gilbert house, Jeremy was alone in his bedroom sketching a picture of Rose. He'd not known her in life, but her face was still vivid in his mind after her admonition about Elena and Stefan. She was pretty, and she just happened to be what came out when he put pencil to paper that afternoon.

"It's a pretty good likeness," Jeremy jumped as he heard the now familiar voice over his shoulder.

"Rose," he confirmed as he turned to look at her. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to follow up on our conversation from before. I've been watching, and I'm still rooting for the two of them," she said.

"Damon and Elena? She's with Stefan," Jeremy protested. Deep down, however, he knew that wasn't quite accurate. Ever since Denver, he'd been watching his sister, and he'd noticed the gulf between her and the man she was supposed to love. Whenever anyone mentioned Stefan or when he was around, he'd seen Elena struggling, trying to force the smile to her face. With Damon, though, the smiles had come easily, and the way they looked at each other when they thought no one was looking were enough to fuel the pages of a romance novel.

"Not anymore," Rose told him. "Haven't you wondered why she's been sitting out on the porch all day? They broke up this morning."

Jeremy's initial reaction was to be angry at Damon. He knew that the vampire had spent the last night in Elena's room, but the door had been open. He couldn't help but wonder, however, what had happened while he was sleeping.

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Rose read his thoughts. "Damon was a perfect gentleman." She recounted how, even when Elena had seemed to finally want to give in, Damon had done what he thought was the right thing and tried to fix things between her and Stefan—despite the personal pain it had caused him.

Jeremy knew she was right. Just watching Elena since her transition had made it obvious that she needed to be with Damon if she was going to be truly happy and, for that matter, if she was going to have any chance of controlling herself as a new vampire.

"I came to tell you to leave," Rose said matter-of-factly. "He's on his way here now, and the two of them are going to need to talk. And, if I know Damon, you won't want to be here to hear what happens when they're done talking." Rose grinned at her own memories of Damon's bedroom prowess.

"Uh, okay, ew," Jeremy said. He started to pack a small bag, "Thanks for the visual I didn't need."

"Sorry, love, but I'm just trying to let you know that tonight might be a good night to have a sleepover with your buddy Matt or something."

"Yeah, I got it," he said.

"Got what?" he turned to see Elena standing in his doorway. "And where are you going?" she asked, looking at his bag of overnight goodies.

"I don't know, really, Elena, but I know you're gonna need the house to yourself tonight."

She seemed taken aback. "You . . . how . . . What makes you say that?"

"Rose." Jeremy turned to his sister. "Elena, I know what's going on. Rose has been watching over you, and she helped me realize what I kinda already knew. Stefan wasn't right for you. You need to be with Damon, and I know you're on track to get there. I'm gonna give you the house tonight so you guys can talk everything through," he paused and glanced at Rose who was giggling in a corner, "or whatever you need to do." He slung the now packed bag over his shoulder, "Just do me a favor, okay?"

She was so shocked, she didn't know how to react. She just nodded up at him, registering for the first time that he had gotten taller than her. "Give him the benefit of the doubt, Elena. He loves you. Any fool can see that, but he's also a lot more fragile than he wants any of us to know. Go easy on him."

"Jer," she hesitated, not sure if she should tell her brother this or not. It would be the first time she'd said it out loud to anyone. "I love him."

"I know," Jeremy crossed the room to her and kissed her forehead before heading down the stairs. Just before he hit the top one, he turned and said, "Oh, and keep it out of my room, alright?"

Elena grinned. "Sure, and you tell Rose to stop being such a perv." Jeremy laughed and descended the staircase.

Damon was just reaching to knock when Jeremy opened the door to leave. "Hello, little Gilbert," he said.

"Yeah," Jeremy looked back up the stairs just in time to see Elena's face light up before she started to head down the stairs. "Be good to her. Don't prove Rose wrong. She's convinced me that you two are a good idea."

For once, Damon didn't have a smartass response. He just stood there, first shocked at Jeremy's words, then, once his eyes caught sight of Elena on the stairs, mesmerized as she walked down to see him. Jeremy scooted past Damon and down the sidewalk. "Have fun!" he called back over his shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

Damon stepped inside the house and shut the door behind him. Elena moved past him to lock it, coming within inches of pressing her body against his in the process. He could smell her shampoo waft past his nose as she turned to begin going through the bottom floor of the house turning off lights. He just stood there watching her, not feeling the need for words. When all the lights were out, she returned to where he still stood by the front door, a bemused smirk playing at the left corner of his lips. She looked into his eyes, still not talking, and took his hand before turning and leading him up the stairs.

Damon allowed her to lead him and made himself remain calm. The silky blue pajama shorts she wore fluttered at the hem with each step she took, and he found it hard to keep his hands off of her. He knew they needed to talk, but all he wanted right now was to swoop her up, carry her to the nearest bed, and make love to her. He took a deep breath and shook his head, clearing the image of her naked body underneath his own from his mind.

At the top of the stairs, she and Damon went into her bedroom. She made no move to let go of his hand now that they'd reached their destination, but rather, she continued to pull him with her until she sat on the bed and pulled him over in front of her. She looked up at him askance, and saw his eyes sparkle with mischief and desire. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed, laying her head on his stomach for a moment. Her warm breath tickled through his shirt when she spoke, "I don't know where to start . . . ."

He lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes again, "Shhh…. ," he soothed, but for once, he didn't know what else to say. "It's fine." He couldn't keep his eyes off of her chest rising and falling rapidly now beneath the skimpy black tank top. Her veins called to him, begging for him to sink his teeth in and take her in every way he knew how.

"Really?" Elena sounded amused, "Keep making noises like that, and we'll never talk!" He hadn't even realized the low growl and almost-purr he was letting out. He stopped himself and laughed. Elena sighed and released him, scooting back on the bed to sit against the headboard. "I need to say a few things first," she said, patting the empty spot in the bed beside her.

He circled the foot of the bed and sat on the opposite edge, leaning over to remove his boots before lying down on top of the blanket. She watched all of this in silence, drinking in his every move. She looked down at his face to find him gazing up at her with his trademark sly smirk in place. "First? What exactly do you think is going to happen here, missy?" he teased.

She giggled and playfully batted her hand in his direction. He captured it and held it firmly in his own, lightly rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Again, he fixed his eyes on hers and asked, "Really, Elena, what is that you want here?"

She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she was going to say. "Stefan and I broke up today." It was a simple statement of fact, not an emotional outburst. "But I have a feeling you knew that already," she looked down at him. He nodded in return, but didn't interrupt her speech. "I think you know as well as I do that things just weren't right with him for a while now. And since my transition . . . ." she trailed off. Realizing that for once, Damon was keeping his mouth shut, she finally continued, "Since my transition, you're the only one who's been able to help me, Damon. You saved me in so many ways, and I'm grateful for that." She paused. She didn't want him to think that this is all he was to her. "But it's so much more than that, too. It took me so long to realize it myself, but . . . you make me  _happy_ , Damon. You make me smile and laugh and feel safe. You make me feel like I  _can_  do it, no matter what 'it' is."

Damon began to feel like he was about to get the friend speech. He still held her hand, but somewhere in all of that, he'd not only forgotten to stop caressing her hand, but he'd also forgotten to breathe. He can't have come so close only to be pushed away. He opened his mouth, but she placed a finger on it. "Shhhh," she said, "I'm not done yet." She let the finger trail absently down his jawline. "It's also more than  _that_. When I'm with you, when you look at me like," she laid her free hand flat along the side of his face, "like that, I don't know what to do." She seemed to struggle with how to put it into words. "I want to grab you and push you against a wall and cover you in kisses and make love to you until we can't breathe anymore and then do it all over again!" She seemed to suddenly realize what she'd just said, and drew both her hands away from him to cover her mouth in a gasp. Her eyes were wide with the shock of what she'd just said.

Before she could even track his movement, Damon was sitting on his knees facing her, gently grabbing her wrists and pulling her hands away. "You know, that can be arranged," he said so quietly she almost couldn't hear him. He leaned in and barely touched his lips to her own. He rested his forehead on hers, "Don't be embarrassed around me, Elena." Another small, gentle kiss. "I don't think I have to tell you that I want the same thing, but that's not all I want from you." Another, slightly more intense. He still held her wrists, and he placed her palms on his chest, leaving his own hands free to hold her face. "I want you to be mine, all mine, in every way," his voice had dropped an octave, and the possessive growl was back underneath his words. "And I want you to get everything your heart desires," he placed one hand on her chest, "and everything every other part of you desires, too." He threw one leg over her lap so that he sat straddling her, and he moved his hand down between her breasts, tracing a line to her stomach, on a trajectory for those other parts he mentioned. He stopped at the waistband of her shorts, sliding his hand to the side to grasp her hip, and leaned in for a deeper kiss.

She was seething with desire for him now, and he could smell the subtle change in her scent as she began to wriggle underneath him. She melted into the kiss, lightly touching her tongue to his lip. He immediately opened his mouth to allow her access, and his tongue circled and played with her own. Her hands found the placard of his shirt and started to slowly work the buttons loose, one by one. He caressed her gently, keeping one hand behind her neck to hold her face close, and using the other to stroke her hipbone, her side, her lower back. She felt him reach beneath her tank top and start to rub her spine in a slow up and down motion. Soon, he let his other hand slide down from her neck, joining the first in its quest under her top. By this time, she had all of his buttons undone, and she broke the kiss to pull back from him and push the shirt off of his shoulders. He complied with her easy insistence, and she couldn't resist taking a moment to appreciate his perfectly chiseled chest and abs. He grinned at her, then returned to both the kiss and the back rub. He continued the up and down motion, on one upstroke, taking the shirt with him, and once again breaking contact with her lips long enough to lift the top over her head. With his amazing vampire speed, he switched their positions so she wouldn't be pinned, this time leaving her straddling his hips and his straining zipper.

This time, he didn't just return her kiss, but instead wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest, reveling in the feeling of her skin on his. Again locked in a kiss, Elena let her fingers travel over his flesh, drinking in the sight of him, the smell, the taste. He dropped from her mouth and began to kiss a trail along her jaw, down her neck, and between her breasts. Every single one sent an electric shock through Elena's body, culminating in a delicious warmth and building pressure at her core. She knew all of her senses were heightened, but somehow, she didn't think that was why she felt this way. Taking advantage of Damon's absence from her mouth, she decided there were a few more things she wanted to say to him. "Damon," she could scarcely recognize her own voice from the need and the ache that came out with it, "It was you. It's always been you."

"Mmm hmmm," he mumbled into her chest as he continued his barrage of kisses. He moved over and took her right nipple into his mouth, first licking, then sucking on it.

She gasped and, to her own surprise, even moaned a little. She continued, "I love you."

He stopped what he was doing, and he pulled back to look at her. He seemed confused, as if he may have misheard her proclamation. She put her hands on the sides of his face and looked him in the eyes, "I love you, Damon Salvatore." She kissed him playfully, amused that he seemed so out of sorts over the three simple words that were her truth now.

"But Stefan . . ." he began before she silenced him with another kiss.

"Let me tell you about the last time I tried to make love to Stefan," Elena said.


	4. Chapter 4

As she might have predicted, his face darkened and every muscle tensed. "The last time we were together was before he left."

"Wait, you mean since he's been back, you haven't . . . ? Since your transition?"

"No. Just like you all warned me, when I transitioned, everything was sort of overstimulated. I wanted to have him back the way we used to be, and I tried really hard to make that happen. It wasn't the same, but I kept trying to push through, thinking that if I could make that connection again, everything would be okay." She shifted off of Damon's lap and lay down beside him in her normal spot, one arm draped languidly above her head. She went on with her story, "We went back to the boarding house one day, kind of supercharged from trying to hunt and riding his motorcycle. We started to make out, and he threw me back on the bed," Damon cringed a little. "I know you don't want all the gory details, but just hear me out." He nodded, trying hard to keep his composure while his erection disappeared. "He was kissing my neck, and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, it wasn't him there; it was you. Damon, I knew then that I'd never be with Stefan again in that way. All I wanted—all I want—is you."

He had to admit, that was not where he was expecting her story to go. It did solve his little problem with deflation, though, her confession driving him back to full readiness immediately. He leaned down to her, right in her face, and said, "So, it's been a while, huh?" She nodded at him, catching the mischievous glint in his eyes. "Oh, the pressure must be unbearable," he said, lying down next to her and propping up on an elbow so he could still look down at her. He ran his hand down her stomach again, but this time, he didn't stop at the edge of the shorts. Instead, he skimmed over them, lightly brushing over the wet sensitive area that was already begging for his touch. She squirmed and giggled, and he made another pass, this time with a bit more pressure and intent. "We'll just have to see about how we can relieve some of that, won't we?" He again rubbed down her stomach, this time snaking his fingers inside her shorts and teasing at the top of her panties. "But first, we have to take care of this little problem," he whispered into her ear, his hot breath making her wetter by the second.

Elena planted her feet on the bed, lifting her hips up off the mattress. Damon deftly pulled the shorts and black lacy panties down off her hips, and when she lay back down, he pulled them past her feet and tossed them carelessly onto the floor. He stopped for a moment and looked at her, memorizing every curve of her body. She watched him gaze at her, and didn't shy away from the scrutiny.

She began to trail her finger along the waistband of his jeans, and he pulled her hand away. "Uh-uh, not yet," he smirked, and began to run his hand along her neckline, slowly tracing out each and every contour with care and precision. He paused at her breasts, bringing his mouth down to once again play at her nipple. She felt the tickle of his teeth as they barely scraped the sensitive skin, and goose bumps rose immediately along her flesh. He continued in his caresses until his hand once again found that oh-so-sweet spot between her legs. Gently, he stroked the area before reaching down to spread her thighs a bit and give him full access to all she had to offer. He reached slightly lower, feeling how moist she was in anticipation of him. "Well, well, well," he grinned, "someone's a little excitable, isn't she?" She nodded and he slid two fingers deep inside of her and began to skillfully move them at just the right angle.

Elena let out a deep moan, followed by a throaty, near breathless "Oh, Damon!" She grasped at his neck, pulling his face back down to her own for another round of kissing. He moved from her mouth, to her jaw, to her earlobe, playfully sucking on it while his moist warm breath tickled the tendrils of hair around her face. All the while, his fingers never stopped working their magic inside her, and soon—much sooner than expected—she found herself on the verge of a powerful and long-awaited climax.

Seeming to sense her closeness, Damon slowed down and carefully pulled his hand away. The slight disappointment in her eyes was obliterated when he pulled those two glistening fingers up to his mouth and began to suck her juices off of them. "Oh, Elena, you taste so good," he said. "Maybe I need to just dig right into this luscious desert without the spoon this time." He lifted himself up and over her, sliding down on the bed until his face was at her core.

Elena tensed up a little, not knowing what to expect. Neither Matt nor Stefan had ever tried this with her, and though Caroline had sung the praises of oral sex since eighth grade, Elena was still a bit nervous. Damon sensed that something was wrong, and he waited. "Do you want me to stop,  _Elena_?" The way he growled her name nearly drove her mad.

"No! Please don't," she begged.

"What's wrong,  _Elena_?"

"I . . . I've never done this before," she admitted. "I want you to, though. Please. I just don't know what to expect."

"Hmmm. My brother, the stick-in-the-mud. How could he say he loves you and never want a taste of you? You're . . . exquisite," he mused. He carefully extended his tongue, letting just the bare tip of it glide over the outer edges of her sex before leaning in and clamping his mouth down to suck on the area. The flood of sensation was more than she could have imagined, and she found herself drifting on this tide of ecstasy. He altered his technique, probing deep into her depths with his tongue this time, then switched back to teasing her with his tongue, then he began to suck on her once again. She arched into him, and a low hum, almost a purr, came from somewhere deep inside Damon's chest. She could feel the vibrations against her most sensitive skin, and once again, she was teetering on that edge of release.

Damon stopped his tender ministrations again, lifting his head to look at her over the length of her body. "Well?" he asked.

Elena was breathless and needy. She tried to form words, tried to utter a coherent sentence, but what came out was more of a mumbled moan. He chuckled and slowly raised up on his hands and knees, slithering up her stomach, stopping briefly at each breast to ensure they weren't neglected after his onslaught down below. He held himself up off of her, hovering mere inches above her body. The chilled air in her room intruded over her bare flesh where she wanted his bare flesh to lay. He brought his face even to hers, his bright blue eyes intense, his trademark smirk resolutely in place. She longed for him to lower his weight down on top of her, but still he remained fixed above her. " _Elena_ ," the sexy rumble was back in his voice, "I asked you how you liked that."

Oh! He was waiting on her answer! She was so far gone in her lust that it took her a moment to form the words. "It was . . . fantastic!" she breathed. His smirk turned into a full-on grin as she continued, "I . . . I . . ." She scrunched up her eyebrows in concentration, "I love it. You're going to have to promise me we can do that again. Only . . ." she trailed off, not sure if or how she should give voice to her one tiny concern.

"What is it?" he breathed, so close that she could feel the static electricity arcing between their lips. His breath smelled very different to her, somewhat musky and thick. She was distracted by it.

"Is that what I smell like? Down there?" she asked him.

He laughed, "Yes, it is." His eyes darted to her lips, "Would you like to know what you taste like,  _Elena_?" Her breath hitched; she wasn't sure. But she couldn't really ask him to go brush his teeth or rinse his mouth out, could she? She looked at his lips, glistening just a bit, slicker than saliva or ChapStick would make them. Ultimately, she knew that she couldn't go on without kissing him. She nodded, and Damon wasted no time in locking his lips to hers, but he still kept their bodies separated. She was almost too lost in the passion of the kiss to register the muted flavor—sweet and tangy with a vague hint of iron—but she didn't mind it and knew her nervousness had been unnecessary.

He pulled back to look at her again, "Now, I think you mentioned something about a problem?" She was nonplussed for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing once her mind had time to realize when she'd said that.

"I don't think I'd call it a 'problem' necessarily," she said, snaking her arms around his neck and starting to pull him down—to no avail. He may as well have been made of stone as he hovered above her. It was starting to really bother her, but he seemed to be enjoying torturing her.

"Well?" he prompted, "What is it? 'Only' what?"

"Only, when you pulled away," she started laughing again, realizing how silly it was, "I was all wet, and it's cold!" She laughed again and tugged once more at his neck, "And it still is since you won't come  _here_!" With this last word, she forcefully pulled on him again, and this time, he relented, letting his weight settle on her, his skin igniting her own everywhere there was contact. Elena kissed him with abandon, giving herself over fully to the experience of him.

She wrapped her arms around him, tracing her hands along the muscles in his back. As their kisses deepened and began to wander, she pushed her fingertips into the waistband at the back of his jeans, but the stubborn cloth wouldn't budge. This barrier still blocked her from getting at what she truly wanted. She was almost ready to rip the fabric to shreds, but Damon chose that moment to roll over, effortlessly dragging her with him until they lay on their sides facing one another. Without hesitation, she reached for the front of his pants. "So, can I see that show now?" she asked playfully.

When he only grinned in response, she pushed him over onto his back. She climbed up and sat on her knees between his legs, where she quickly liberated the button from its noose, and, as a means of payback for the excruciating anticipation he'd been playing at with her, she took the zipper down slowly and steadily, tooth by liberating tooth. The further it went, the more his erection strained at the front of his pants. Damon propped himself up on his elbows to watch her every move. Once she had the zipper blissfully undone, she reached up and wrapped her fingers into the waist of the jeans at each hip. She pulled down sharply, dragging the denim further and scooting back on her knees until she met the edge of the mattress, where she stood and pulled them the rest of the way off. They carelessly joined the heap where her shorts had gone, and she just stood there looking at him for a moment.

The space between her legs tingled in anticipation of the eyeful she was getting. She liked what she saw, but she couldn't take being this far removed from him anymore, so she crawled slowly back up his body, imitating his hover routine as best she could. When she bent to kiss him, he swept her left arm out from under her, tumbling her to the side and pinning that arm above her head as he took control of the kiss. Every fiber of his being was screaming to be inside of her.

He released her wrist and moved to climb on top of her, and she instinctively spread her legs, allowing room for him. Instead of sating their hunger right then, however, he once again paused, hovering almost ethereally over her. "Elena," the rumble was gone from his voice, and his eyes flashed as he questioned her, "are you sure about this?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you crazy?!" she shot back. She was aching too badly with this desire to stop and have a long analytical conversation about it. "Please, Damon! Don't play games, just do it!" Her cry was breathless and more needy than she wanted it to be.

"I just want you to be sure. Because once this happens, I can personally guarantee that it will be happening over and over again." His voice had dropped back into its tantalizing purr again. "I can't be with you one time and then be expected to stop. We cross this bridge, and you're mine, Elena, for eternity." He saw a single tear roll down from her eye as she nodded her consent. He leaned in to kiss away the salty drop, then repositioned himself to just the right spot.

As he entered her, slowly, carefully, he held her gaze, their eyes locked onto one another as if they were the last two people on earth. She gasped and moaned at the sensation of being completely filled up, both in her heart and in her nether regions. She mentally urged him on, and he obliged, beginning to move methodically in and out while once again exploring her body with his hands and his kisses.

Damon felt like the perfect fit. He pushed her boundaries, both literally and figuratively, stretching her beyond what she thought she could take. Every move was tender and careful, filled with all the love and trust they'd struggled to find in one another, all the hurt and fear they'd harbored, all the things left unsaid between them. As he began to move in and out, she opened to him more, both her body and her soul not only accepting him, but begging him for more.

Elena matched his rhythm, pressing her hips up to meet each thrust, gradually building the pressure and the pleasure. Still their eyes remained locked, and Elena realized she'd never had eyes-open sex before. The connection between them was more intense and intimate than anything she'd ever known, or anything she'd ever imagined. Bit by bit, their pace increased. She could feel every bit of him in detail, gliding in and out and in and out and in. Concentrating on the sensations made them more palpable, and before long, she was lost in it. She was beyond coherent thought or words; she was a bundle of raw nerve endings being tickled and teased.

Damon, too, was more lost in her than he had expected. Though he'd never allowed himself to fully fantasize about these moments with her, he hadn't been able to stop the erotic dreams of the two of them together. He realized now, though, that those dreams could never have matched this reality. This slow, intense burn he was building with her physically had so much more to do with the burning in his soul than that in his loins. He knew he was a goner, completely hers in every way, and he didn't care.

He pushed her harder, building up the wave that was about to crash over them. He refused to take his eyes off of hers except for a few moments here and there where he gave her nipples the attention they deserved or nipped playfully at her neck. Their pace had increased dramatically, and he could feel his muscles begin to tighten in anticipation of his orgasm, but he wasn't ready for that. He didn't want this to end yet.

Damon suddenly lurched to the left, rolling over to the side and pulling Elena along with him. She was very close before he interrupted the rhythm, and she groaned in frustration until she realized what he was up to. Somehow, he managed to keep them connected in the process of flipping them, and he settled her into position on top of him, lowering her slowly so she could really feel the different depth and pressure of the position. Instinct took over, and she began to grind her hips against him, feeling the glorious pressure return and the tickle as he touched the farthest reaches of her core. She leaned back a little and put her hands on his thighs, just above his knees, throwing her head back with the rising tide.

Her hair tickled the tops of his thighs, and Damon couldn't resist grabbing both of her breasts as they were put on full display for him. He kneaded them in his strong hands, pinching and lightly twisting at her nipples. "Oh, my God—Damon!" she moaned, lost in complete ecstasy. He could feel the muscles inside her begin to quiver, and he knew he wouldn't be able to slow down again. He'd had her at the brink too many times to deny her now. As she writhed back and forth on top of him, he gave one, two, three solid thrusts, and both of them shattered into their climaxes at the same time.

Elena slowly raised up to climb off of him and lie down. She was exhausted and utterly spent. The sleepy, satisfied smile on her face gave her away. Damon cradled her as she snuggled up to his side, laying her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. She breathed in deeply, taking in his scent and the smell of sex in the air. He placed one hand over his on his chest, and absently caressed her shoulder with the other. Her breathing was slowing down; she was very close to falling asleep. "I love you, Elena." His voice was completely without guile or expectation—he was simply stating a fact.

"Mmm," she murmured, "I love you, too, Damon."


End file.
